shields and love
by Alexandra Shinai
Summary: they are a package deal; they cannot live without each other. beck/jade. Yes, I'm aware that it's written in all lowercase letters.


_(in love and lies, the lies outnumber the amount of love)_

she is a vulnerable, dark angel. people would say she was sent from hell, but if you knew her like he did, you would say she was sent from heaven. the rich undertones of her shiny hair and slightly-tanned skin, the slight dimples that appeared when she rarely smiled would make you disagree with most of the population.

he is her shield. together they are a package. they cannot live without each other. he shields her from the negative comments, the glares, even the occasional death threats. she loves him.

they love each other, but they didn't know that.

* * *

><p>beck oliver was hired as jade west's bodyguard. he still does not know why he agreed to it. he wanted to be an actor, not a bodyguard. but something compelled him to protect this girl, the one who looked as though she had been through a rough time.<p>

something drew him to her.

and so he agreed.

* * *

><p>jade west is the new girl at hollywood arts. she isn't sure why her parents hired a bodyguard for her.<p>

to others, he doesn't look like a bodyguard. he talks to her, but she only makes snippy, short comments back.

to others, he looks like a desperate boy trying to ask a bitchy girl out.

but, he knows if he really tried that, she'd have to punch him in the face.

* * *

><p>jade doesn't remember the time she finally warmed up to beck. he extended his hand for her, as usual, but this time she actually took it. she felt a spark, something that felt like a spark of electricity shoot up her arm when their hands touched. she had heard stuff like that from romance novels she had been secretly reading.<p>

no one knew that.

she didn't even know that she was falling in love with beck oliver.

* * *

><p>beck never knew that he was falling in love with jade west.<p>

he finally realized he was when he stared at her as she walked away. the confident swing of her hips, the glow of her ocean blue eyes when she turned to face him, wondering why he wasn't keeping up. and, most of all, the small smile she cracked, showing the slightest of dimples.

* * *

><p>jade realized she was when she stared at him as well.<p>

she loved the way he ran his hand through his hair, his smile with bright teeth, his chocolate brown eyes.

she also liked the chains on his jeans.

oh, and his washboard abs. those were nice. very nice.

she found herself drooling over those.

* * *

><p>once, she couldn't handle how lovesick she was. she suddenly broke away from him, striding to the girl's bathroom, confident on the outside but breaking down on the inside. other girls took no notice of her as she went into the stall bigger than it should've been, locked the stall, and slid down to the floor in the corner, silent sobs wracking her body.<p>

beck hesitated before he decided to go in after her. he was her bodyguard, even though it was the girl's bathroom. girls did take notice then. they "accidentally" dropped something on the floor, adjusted their shirt, and then bent over a little too exaggeratedly to show a little too much cleavage and then try to flirt with him.

he had to push several girls away from him before he could finally find the stall jade was in. he saw her boots.

"jade," he said, "you okay?"

"you didn't have to come after me." jade snapped.

"yes, i did. i'm your bodyguard." he answered. he heard her speak, in a very low tone. it took him several minutes to decipher her words.

_(i wish you were more)_

* * *

><p>but, of course, he didn't get the real meaning. she wanted him to love her, the broken dark angel she was. he thought she wanted him to be a friend to her.<p>

he tried to be a friend to her. he sat with her at lunch, shared his food with her, talked to her, he even gave her his locker combination, which was 10-1-4-5. their locks were different from others, which normally had three numbers. he didn't know hers, but hers was 2-5-3-11. soon after he gave her his locker combo, random notes and magazine clippings and even quotes from books showed up in his locker.

the notes went from stuff like "hi" to one that especially stuck out to him.

_(a girl like me could never love)_

* * *

><p>the pain got worse, and worse, and worse.<p>

it hit its worst point when beck began to date some slut named erica chanelle. if you looked up the word slut in the dictionary, there would be the definition followed by a picture of erica chanelle. she wore too-small skirts with no panties and shirts bearing midriff and way too much cleavage. jade drifted from the two quite often, usually to the girl's bathroom. she had forced beck to stop following her in there, and usually erica would attack beck while he waited.

it was the news that erica had been beck's first that hurt her the most. it wasn't long before the long sleeves appeared, even in the hot LA weather. it wasn't long before she stopped smiling, stopped talking. her face was emotionless, her eyes blank. school was a routine.

and everyday, when she got home, she would degrade herself.

"you're not good enough for beck."

_(slash)_

"he hates you."

_(slash)_

"you're an ugly bitch."

_(slash)_

row after row of crimson blood rising to the surface.

* * *

><p>it was one day that it went too far. jade was sitting on a bench outside the school, legs folded, sipping from a bottle of water, refusing to go inside for school. beck was waiting patiently for her to decide to go. erica, however, was not.<p>

"come on, babe, can't we go? if we're not going, can we at least make better use of the time?" erica whined. beck rolled his eyes where she couldn't see. he handed her a ten dollar bill.

"why don't you go get us some coffee? i'll try to talk her into going." he answered.

jade smirked smugly as erica left. "what do you want?" she muttered.

"for you to go inside." they stared at each other, and something convinced her.

she kissed him, a hot, passionate kiss filled with her stress and anger. they broke away and jade stood up, picked up her bag, and strode into the school without another word.

she had just gotten her first taste of beck oliver. she would be back for more.

* * *

><p>jade west was a broken, lovesick girl.<p>

beck oliver was a broken boy who didn't know who he should choose: erica, the unknown-to-him slut, or jade, the broken, beautiful, artistic girl who took his breath away and made his heart skip a beat.

he chose the latter.

* * *

><p>he broke up with erica, but jade thought nothing of it.<p>

the next day, beck found a note from jade in his locker.

"and yet no man like he doth grieve my heart."

it was from romeo and juliet.

he went to look for jade, and found her sitting against a row of lockers, her face in her hands.

"jade!" he said urgently, kneeling next to her. "jade, are you okay?" she lifted her face and beck was shocked at what he saw. mascara ran down her cheeks in rivulets of greyish black, eyes red and puffy, filled to the brim with tears. she shook her head, putting her face back in her hands.

"jade!" without thinking, he pulled her onto his lap and put his arms around her. "please feel better," he whispered, gently rocking her.

and then he heard her breathy whisper.

three words, eight letters, one deep meaning.

_(i love you)_

beck was happier than happy.

he felt complete.

after all, jade west loved him.

he removed her hands from her face and gently kissed away her tears. jade froze, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"i love you too." he whispered.

nothing could be closer to the truth.


End file.
